House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy indicated Friday that he wouldn't be taking any action against Rep.Lauren Boebert for making suicide bomb jokes about Democratic Rep. , who is Muslim, claiming Boebert has already apologized.  

'Let me be very clear.This party is for anyone and everyone who craves freedom and supports religious liberty,' McCarthy said at a Hill press conference. 'Lauren Boebert, as I called her, when it came forward we talked, she apologized publicly, she apologized personally.'

McCarthy also turned the controversy around, telling reporters he didn't receive a personal apology when Democrats made disparaging comments about the Republican and other members of his caucus.  

'Did any of you raise the question when someone on their side of the aisle said I worked with the Ku Klux Klan, referring to ?' he asked. 

He was referring to Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying he was working with the 'KKK caucus' in his bid for the speakership.  

'Did anyone on your side of the aisle talk about when Omar said the only reason I support Israel is all about the Benjamins?' McCarthy continued, mentioning an early controversy that involved the Minnesota Democrat. 

He also brought up the controversy surrounding comments Omar made she talked about the 'unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,' pointing out that House Speaker 'did not denounce her for saying that' - , but also said it wasn't a 'rebuke' once Omar clarified her comments.   

'I think when somebody does something that is wrong they apologize,' McCarthy continued.'Lauren Boebert apologized publicly and then picked up the phone - it took a lot of effort, she wanted to meet personally, denied the ability to meet personally - she picked up the phone and she called Congresswoman Omar, she said I want to personally apologize, and that's what she did,' McCarthy said. 

Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, have pointed out that Boebert sent out an apologetic tweet after videos of her making the Islamophobic jokes surfaced, but actually took back her apology during a phone call with Omar.  

'She refuses to even apologize,' AOC said in a tweet Friday. 

Ocasio-Cortez called on her own leadership to go after Boebert, with the Republicans refusing to do anything to punish the Colorado Republican.  

'It's embarrassing that there is any hesitation on this.How can we have different consequences for different kinds of bigotry or incitement?' the New York Democrat asked. 'This should be treated equally and consistently. Incite against a member and you're stripped. End of story.' 

She continued, 'It's a pretty simple question: does the House accept violent Islamophobia or not?' 

Ocasio-Cortez also pointed out that it was Boebert who was tweeting out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's location during the January 6 Capitol attack. 

Earlier this year, Republican Reps.Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar were stripped of their committee assignments by the Democratic majority. 

Greene lost her committee privileges in February after peddling a number of conspiracy theories and indicating support for violence against Pelosi and other Democrats. 

The vote to strip Gosar of his committee assignments came more recently, after he tweeted out an anime video that showed him killing Ocasio-Cortez and maiming President Joe Biden.            

On Tuesday night Omar held a press conference on revealed that on top of making suicide bomber jokes about the Minnesota Democrat, Boebert had asked her if she should register as a 'foreign agent.'  

Omar played for the press a profanity-filled voicemail threat she received hours after Boebert posted the taking back a previous apology she had made to the Muslim Democrat, saying she was 'never sympathizing with terrorists.' 

'We see you sand n-word b***h.

We know what you are up to. You are all about taking over our country. Don't worry there is plenty that would love the opportunity to take you off the face of this f**king earth,' a man's voice said as the congresswoman held her phone to the microphone.

'Come get it. But you are a f**king Muslim piece of s**t. You are jihadists. We know what you are, you're a f**king traitor, and you will not live any longer.' 

Omar then read for the audience of reporters a transcript of the call.    

Earlier Tuesday, CNN unearthed Boebert making a joke at a Staten Island, New York Conservative Party dinner, in September.        

'One of my staffers, on his first day with me, got into an elevator in the Capitol.And in that elevator, we were joined by Ilhan Omar,' Boebert told the audience.

'Well, it was just us three in there and I looked over and I said, "Well, lookey there, it's the Jihad Squad."' 

Boebert smiled as the room broke into laughter and applause.

She continued: 'I do have to say she doesn't have a backpack, she wasn't dropping it and running so we're good.' 

In the same clip, Boebert called Omar and Rep.Rashida Tlaib, who is also Muslim, 'evil' and black-hearted.'  

'We of course know that this isn't the first incident,' Omar said Tuesday night. 'In May she said my colleagues and I are politicians with suicide belts strapped to their bodies.' 

'She asked if congresswoman Tlaib and I should register as foreign agents, invoking the hateful duel loyalty trope,' Omar continued. 

Tlaib and Rep.Andre Carson, who is also Muslim, stood by her side.  

'And today we learned she fabricated a similar story about riding an elevator with me, calling me and Rashida evil and dark-hearted,' Omar continued.      

Video surfaced last week of Boebert making the joke more recently.  

'"Well, she doesn't have a backpack. We should be fine,'" Boebert recalled saying to an aide, while addressing supporters during the holiday break.

'And I said, "Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today."'

Omar said the incident never took place.And the comments quickly attracted widespread criticism and calls for punishment. 

Boebert tweeted on Thursday: 'I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly.

'There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without unnecessary distraction.'

They spoke by phone on Monday, but things quickly broke down.  

'Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep.Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments,' Omar said in a statement. 

'She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call. 

'I believe in engaging with those we disagree with respectfully, but not when that disagreement is rooted in outright bigotry and hate.' 

Boebert released a video message, saying the two had demanded apologies of each other in their phone call. 

'I told Ilhan Omar that she should make a public apology to the American people for her anti-American, antisemitic anti-police rhetoric,' she said in a video posted to Instagram.

'She continued to press and I continued to press back and then representative Omar hung up on me.

'Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101.'

Boebert's video message, Omar said Tuesday, prompted the threatening voicemail. 

Omar also said that no Republican, other than Rep.Adam Kinzinger, a known anti-Trumper, had apologized to her, nor had she heard from Republican leadership.  

'Condemning this should not be a partisan issue,' Omar said. 

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace also condemned Boebert's anti-Muslim attack on Omar, cuing scorn from Republican Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's also made Islamphobic comments about Omar this week. 

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly had a meeting with both Greene and Mace separately Tuesday night, with CNN reporting that when Greene left the meeting she told a CNN reporter she would support a primary challenger against Mace. 

Of Greene, Mace told the reporter: 'bless her f**king heart.'  

Both Greene and комікси про Супермена Boebert were associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory when they were first elected to Congress.  

At the press conference, Omar was asked if expulsion from Congress should be on the table, and the Democrat didn't shut the door on that. 

'I will say that my call has been for there to be an appropriate action taken,' Omar said. 

She added the decision would be up to House leadership. 

'I think it's appropriate for us to ask the question, should such behavior be allowed and is it becoming of a member of the House to behave this way,' Omar said.'And when that question is answered then the appropriate action can be taken.'